Dine: Proper etiquette for a cafe stop

For today’s column, I’m focusing on two questions that I’ve received from several readers, both regarding customer etiquette.

The first: How long is too long to camp out at a coffeehouse?

You see it all the time, people sitting in coffee shops with their faces glued to their laptop computers, surfing online or pounding out reports. Some people actually use coffee shops as their workplaces, spending hours conducting business from one of the small tables or communal counters.

“As long as you’re still consuming something you′ve bought from the establishment, you’re entitled to a table,” etiquette guru Henry Alford wrote in an email. He is the author of “Would it Kill You to Stop Doing That? A Modern guide to Manners.”